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- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- World
- Geography
-
-
- Map references:
- World, Time Zones
- Area:
- total area:
- 510.072 million sq km
- land area:
- 148.94 million sq km
- water area:
- 361.132 million sq km
- comparative area:
- land area about 16 times the size of the US
- note:
- 70.8% of the world is water, 29.2% is land
- Land boundaries:
- the land boundaries in the world total 250,883.64 km (not counting shared
- boundaries twice)
- Coastline:
- 356,000 km
- Maritime claims:
- contiguous zone:
- 24 nm claimed by most but can vary
- continental shelf:
- 200-m depth claimed by most or to depth of exploitation, others claim 200 nm
- or to the edge of the continental margin
- exclusive fishing zone:
- 200 nm claimed by most but can vary
- exclusive economic zone:
- 200 nm claimed by most but can vary
- territorial sea:
- 12 nm claimed by most but can vary
- note:
- boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from
- extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 nm; 43 nations and
- other areas that are landlocked include Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia,
- Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi,
- Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican
- City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein,
- Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda,
- San Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Former
- Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank,
- Zambia, Zimbabwe
- Climate:
- two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate
- zones from a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates
- Terrain:
- highest elevation is Mt. Everest at 8,848 meters and lowest depression is
- the Dead Sea at 392 meters below sea level; greatest ocean depth is the
- Marianas Trench at 10,924 meters
- Natural resources:
- the rapid using up of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of
- forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and
- the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe and
- the former USSR) pose serious long-term problems that governments and
- peoples are only beginning to address
- Land use:
- arable land:
- 10%
- permanent crops:
- 1%
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- World
- Geography
- meadows and pastures:
- 24%
- forest and woodland:
- 31%
- other:
- 34%
- Irrigated land:
- NA sq km
- Environment:
- current issues:
- large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air,
- water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing,
- deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil
- depletion, erosion
- natural hazards:
- large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters
- (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions)
- international agreements:
- 23 selected international environmental agreements included under the
- Environment entry for each country and in Appendix E: Selected International
- Environmental Agreements
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- World
- People
-
-
- Population:
- 5,733,687,096 (July 1995 est.)
- Age structure:
- 0-14 years:
- 31.6% (female 882,809,689; male 928,121,801)
- 15-64 years:
- 62% (female 1,752,393,539; male 1,802,004,124)
- 65 years and over:
- 6.4% (female 209,437,234; male 158,246,581) (July 1995 est.)
- Population growth rate:
- 1.5% (1995 est.)
- Birth rate:
- 24 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
- Death rate:
- 9 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
- Infant mortality rate:
- 64 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
- Life expectancy at birth:
- total population:
- 62 years
- male:
- 61 years
- female:
- 64 years (1995 est.)
- Total fertility rate:
- 3.1 children born/woman (1995 est.)
- Labor force:
- 2.24 billion (1992)
- by occupation:
- NA
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- World
- Government
-
-
- Digraph:
- XX
- Administrative divisions:
- 265 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries
- Legal system:
- varies by individual country; 186 (note including Yugoslavia) are parties to
- the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ or World Court)
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- World
- Economy
-
-
- Overview:
- Led by recovery in Western Europe and strong performances by the US, Canada,
- and key Third World countries, real global output - gross world product
- (GWP) - rose 3% in 1994 compared with 2% in 1993. Results varied widely
- among regions and countries. Average growth of 3% in the GDP of
- industrialized countries (60% of GWP in 1994) and average growth of 6% in
- the GDP of less developed countries (34% of GWP) were partly offset by a
- further 11% drop in the GDP of the former USSR/Eastern Europe area (now only
- 6% of GWP). With the notable exception of Japan at 2.9%, unemployment was
- typically 5%-12% in the industrial world. The US accounted for 22% of GWP in
- 1994; Western Europe accounted for another 22%; and Japan accounted for 8%.
- These are the three "economic superpowers" which are presumably destined to
- compete for mastery in international markets on into the 21st century. As
- for the less developed countries, China, India, and the Four Dragons - South
- Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore - once again posted records of 5%
- growth or better; however, many other countries, especially in Africa,
- continued to suffer from drought, rapid population growth, inflation, and
- civil strife. Central Europe made considerable progress in moving toward
- "market-friendly" economies, whereas the 15 ex-Soviet countries (with the
- notable exceptions of the three Baltic states) typically experienced further
- declines in output, sometimes as high as 30%. Externally, the nation-state,
- as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over
- international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the
- central government in a number of cases is losing control over resources as
- separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain
- momentum, e.g., in the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the
- former Yugoslavia, and in India. In Western Europe, governments face the
- difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare
- programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek
- employment. The addition of nearly 100 million people each year to an
- already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution,
- desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their
- own internal problems, the industrialized countries have inadequate
- resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at
- least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized.
- (For the specific economic problems of each country, see the individual
- country entries in this volume.)
- National product:
- GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $30.7 trillion (1994
- est.)
- National product real growth rate:
- 3.2% (1994 est.)
- National product per capita:
- $5,400 (1994 est.)
- Inflation rate (consumer prices):
- all countries:
- 25%
- developed countries:
- 5%
- developing countries:
- 50% (1994 est.)
- note:
- national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from stable prices
- to hyperinflation
- Unemployment rate:
- 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized
- countries; developed countries typically 5%-12% unemployment
- Exports:
- $4 trillion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- World
- Economy
- commodities:
- the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
- partners:
- in value, about 75% of exports from the developed countries
- Imports:
- $4.1 trillion (c.i.f., 1994 est.)
- commodities:
- the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
- partners:
- in value, about 75% of imports by the developed countries
- External debt:
- $1 trillion for less developed countries (1993 est.)
- Industrial production:
- growth rate 5% (1994 est.)
- Electricity:
- capacity:
- 2,773,000,000 kW
- production:
- 11.601 trillion kWh
- consumption per capita:
- 1,937 kWh (1993)
- Industries:
- industry worldwide is dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in
- computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical
- equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small
- portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these
- technological forces, and the technological gap between the industrial
- nations and the less-developed countries continues to widen; the rapid
- development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating
- already grim environmental problems
- Agriculture:
- the production of major food crops has increased substantially in the last
- 20 years; the annual production of cereals, for instance, has risen by 50%,
- from about 1.2 billion metric tons to about 1.8 billion metric tons;
- production increases have resulted mainly from increased yields rather than
- increases in planted areas; while global production is sufficient for
- aggregate demand, about one-fifth of the world's population remains
- malnourished, primarily because local production cannot adequately provide
- for large and rapidly growing populations, which are too poor to pay for
- food imports; conditions are especially bad in Africa where drought in
- recent years has intensified the consequences of overpopulation
- Economic aid:
- $NA
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- World
- Transportation
-
-
- Railroads:
- total:
- 1,201,337 km includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km of electrified routes of
- which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in the Far East, 11,050 km in
- Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and 4,160 km in North America; note -
- fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr attained by France's SNCF
- TGV-Atlantique line
- broad gauge:
- 251,153 km
- standard gauge:
- 710,754 km
- narrow gauge:
- 239,430 km
- Highways:
- total:
- NA
- paved:
- NA
- unpaved:
- NA
- Ports:
- Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), New
- Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama
- Merchant marine:
- total:
- 25,364 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 435,458,296 GRT/697,171,651 DWT
- ships by type:
- barge carrier 39, bulk 5,202, cargo 8,121, chemical tanker 911, combination
- bulk 293, combination ore/oil 290, container 1,903, liquefied gas 675,
- livestock carrier 48, multifunction large-load carrier 53, oil tanker 4,332,
- passenger 287, passenger-cargo 114, railcar carrier 24, refrigerated cargo
- 1,023, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1,047, short-sea passenger 465, specialized
- tanker 77, vehicle carrier 460 (April 1995)
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- World
- Communications
-
-
- Telephone system:
- local:
- NA
- intercity:
- NA
- international:
- NA
- Radio:
- broadcast stations:
- AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA
- radios:
- NA
- Television:
- broadcast stations:
- NA
- televisions:
- NA
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- World
- Defense Forces
-
-
- Branches:
- ground, maritime, and air forces at all levels of technology
- Defense expenditures:
- a further decline in 1994, by perhaps 5%-10%, to roughly three-quarters of a
- trillion dollars, or 2.5% of gross world product (1994 est.)
-